


blackbird on my shoulder

by mithrarin



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Lowercase, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, because im lazy u_u
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-06-26 13:26:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15664107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mithrarin/pseuds/mithrarin
Summary: this isn't how tobio expected to find out who his soulmate is, but out of the ordinary is hinata shouyou's brand, after all.or au in which tobio notices the mark on hinata's wrist while they're having yet another one of their almost-fights and the rest is history.





	blackbird on my shoulder

**Author's Note:**

> this is short and dumb but my friends encouraged me to post it so i'm doing it. first fic. nice! the title is from the song mystery of love by sufjan stevens

_ "you?” _

 

tobio’s attempt at not sounding as flabbergasted as he feels fails as miserably as his last three jump serves, a shiver coursing up his spine despite how warm his body gets after hours and hours of practice, sweat uncomfortably clinging his shirt to his back and underarms, hair matted to his head. his fingers tighten around hinata’s wrist for a short moment, relaxing once he notices the boy trying to break away from his grasp.  _ this can’t be happening. _

 

brown eyes don’t meet his despite how much he needs them to, shooting daggers at where tobio’s nails dig into his skin, the inside of his wrist facing upwards. hinata’s chest heaves up and down, the exertion from spiking ball after ball for the past hour getting to him almost as much as the situation at hand, lungs desperately trying to make up for the oxygen that the realization punched out of him. 

 

“you,” tobio repeats. calmer, this time. “you’re my soulmate.”

 

“yeah.”

 

“we’re soulmates.”

 

“yeah.”

 

it’s so uncharacteristic, how he’s the one breaking the silence that stretches between them every time rather than his annoying, talkative counterpart. almost as if their personalities switch once faced with circumstances such as– such as  _ theirs _ , delicate and taboo. tobio’s palm feels so clammy that hinata’s wrist will surely slip out of his hold any second now. 

 

_ taboo _ wouldn’t quite be the word tobio would want to use to describe soulmate identifying tattoos, but given the background of his family he can’t help but believe the adjective fits like a glove. 

 

in school they were taught that finding the one you’re supposed to spend the rest of your days with would be a magical moment, that both would fall in love at first sight, that nothing can break their bond apart. something plucked right out of a kid’s book. but he knew it wasn’t like that– after all, they’re called fairy tales for a reason. 

 

tobio’s grandmother divorced her soulmate after having their first and only child. tobio’s mother hadn’t even  _ had _ him with her soulmate, but rather someone else who, too, rejected the idea that fate is meant to bring you together with someone romantically. ever since he was a child he would scratch at the numbers on his skin, hoping they’d go away because both of the experiences which molded his view of having a soulmate sounded so fucking painful that he didn’t want to partake in such vile ordeal at all. just be by himself, live  _ for  _ himself, and if anything happens along the way then it’d be welcome with open, yet wary arms. 

 

_ 21012014 1635 _ . numbers bold and written in ink as dark as tobio’s hair, right underneath where his palm ends. when he brushes his fingertips over it he can feel his own pulse, how quick his heartbeat grows whenever he thinks about it. having those numbers feels suffocating– like a cow being branded before slaughter, like serial numbers on a toy. 

 

numbers that match the ones hinata has on his own wrist digit by digit. 

 

it hits him like a freight train because how could he have been so fucking  _ stupid _ – to not pay more attention to the moment. it was four thirty-five in the afternoon in the twenty-first of january, in that fucking  _ hallway _ with kindaichi by his side, in awe at that tiny boy’s will to win no matter how the odds were clearly against him. he should’ve done  _ something _ , grabbed his hand and checked just to make sure, but he  _ didn’t.  _ his pride always spoke higher than his common sense back then, and it had kept him– saved him?– from finding out who the universe had paired him with from the very start. 

 

after a long moment of silence, tobio is yet again the one who speaks up. “did you- did you know?” he presses, releasing hinata’s wrist. tobio notices the crescent shaped indents on his skin from where his nails had pressed too hard. 

 

“i had my doubts,” hinata says, quiet and cautious. he refuses to meet tobio’s gaze. “had been waiting for that specific moment for a long time so i knew it had to be either you or kindaichi.”

 

his fingers curl inwards, but he doesn’t raise his voice. “why didn’t you tell me before?”

 

“i dunno- i didn’t know how you’d react. how we’d both react.”

 

tobio nods, hums his acknowledgement once he realizes hinata probably won’t notice the shake of his head. it’s not his turn to speak, he thinks. hinata scrunches up his nose, the tips of his ears flushed, mouth quivering before he parts his lips, wetting them with his tongue. 

 

“you’ve never been shy to talk about how you feel when it comes to soulmate shit, so neither me nor the others ever- i dunno, ever thought about asking?” hinata scratches at his jaw with his other hand, the one which is free of any unrequited marks. 

 

“i never mentioned what happened that day either. always tell them that my memory’s pretty bad and- and that i was too stressed over my first junior high match to have noticed anything- any _ one _ else. but it’s a- but i remember everything.”

 

before tobio can even think about replying, hinata continues. “did you know?”

 

_ stupid.  _ “i clearly fucking didn’t,”  _ stupid stupid stupid _ . he inhales, exhales. “i talked to so many people at that time. i guess- i think i’ve been in denial for so long that my brain just fucking blocked it out, i dunno, that’s the only valid reason i can think of.”  _ stupid. _ “i’m so fucking  _ stupid _ .”

 

his breaths come out in quick, short exhales, fists clenched as his arms hang limply by his sides. tobio’s head pounds. 

 

“i know,” hinata acquiesces, words a little shaky. he lets out a humorless laugh. “you and i. being soulmates. it  _ sounds  _ fucking stupid. like- like oikawa and ushiwaka being all lovey dovey with each other. i’m supposed to  _ beat  _ you someday, not  _ settle down _ with you.”

 

something about what he says makes the pressure on his sternum grow a little stronger, hinata’s words wrapping tight around his heart. 

 

settling down with hinata. it does sound ridiculous, he’s his  _ rival  _ for fuck’s sake _ ,  _ but something about how easily the middle blocker admits it makes him feel so uneasy that it seems like he’s about to crawl right out of his skin. 

 

“it doesn’t have to be that way,” tobio begins, feet dragging him towards a ball they’d left on the ground during their private practice earlier. he bends over and picks it up, tosses it up over and over again absentmindedly. standing still for any longer while talking about delicate issues would certainly make him lose it. this, as simple as it may be, grounds him. “things don’t need to change, you know.”

 

“but i want them to!” hinata exclaims, exasperated. it’s the first time he’s looked at tobio in what seems like forever, eyes narrowed, brows furrowed in determination or anger or a mixture of both. his voice reverberates in the empty gym. “even when i knew it might’ve been you, i still _wanted_ it. i don’t care if you only know failed soulmate stories. i don’t care if you’ve never even tried to find me. i _wanted_ to get to know my soulmate better, i _wanted_ to fall in love with them, i _wanted_ to have a happy little stupid fucking story with them. even if it was you. i _want_ all of that.”

 

_ this can’t be happening.  _

 

he tosses the ball at hinata, who catches it without any signs of hesitation. there’s some emotion behind how forceful it is, something he can’t quite put his finger on. tobio’s unbelievably close to combusting. 

 

his grandmother divorced her soulmate. his mother didn’t even meet hers and neither did his father. he’s rivals with his. 

 

_ no,  _ he thinks. he’s friends with his. friends. 

 

(that doesn’t seem right either.) 

 

the unsaid words taste bitter on his tongue. 

 

“kageyama.” hinata tosses the ball back to him. tobio catches it. “don’t just stand there, you fucking idiot. i could keep rambling about what i want all day but that- that’s not relevant. it doesn’t matter. what do  _ you _ want?”

 

he wants  _ that _ , everything hinata has said, he wants every single part of it. still needs to come to terms with how much he’s willing to try and possibly live a fairytale with hinata– hinata, the little annoying brat whose ambitions are on par with his own, who knows all his mannerisms and whose quirks tobio knows by heart, whom he guiltily has already thought of as attractive once or twice before, somehow his closest friend despite their obvious differences. his feelings towards hinata have always been strictly platonic, but he guesses it wouldn’t be too hard to fall in love with someone like him if they spent more time together outside of the court. it wouldn’t be hard at all.

 

“that.”

 

“that what?”

 

“...what you said.”

 

the inside of tobio’s cheek has been bitten raw by now. hinata’s lips twitch and he licks them again, a nervous habit. 

 

“you want to try?”

 

“yeah,” he concludes, balancing the ball on the back of one hand for a minute before grasping it again tightly. tobio isn’t sure if he’s able to compress all of his jumbled thoughts into words in order to elaborate his response, can’t seem to get his tongue to work. that will have to do. 

 

“nice,” the middle blocker says, eyes wide, seeming a little taken aback by his response. it’s kind of stupid, tobio thinks– he’s heavily implied his intentions in his past statements, albeit curt and to the point– but that’s just hinata is. it’s both fitting and endearing how dense he can be. “hang out with me after practice tomorrow. i spent all my allowance in new games and my mom makes really good katsudon, especially when i have friends over. yeah?”

 

tobio snorts, a smirk playing on his lips. this he can deal with. “if you don’t mind getting your ass handed to you in fighting games, then sure.”

 

“as fucking if i’m gonna lose!”

 

as expected, hinata puffs up his chest, a determined look on his features despite how red his eyes and nose still look. he walks over to where tobio stands a few feet away from him, placing his hands on the ball and looking up at him. hinata’s fingers feel warm against his own. 

 

“but nevermind that. for now! set for me?”

 

tobio’s resolve crumbles and he lets himself smile just this once. a genuine, heartfelt smile. 

 

“always.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hi hello props to kae gabi lucas & lia ([her ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyaccinth/pseuds/hyaccinth)) for being gr8 friends and reading this for me before i forgot it in my docs forever. any kinda feedback is appreciated!!  
> [my twit](http://www.twitter.com/benishigure/) where i yell abt ushijima all day & [my tunglr](http://www.mithrarin.tumblr.com/)


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